


Count the Ways

by Antosha



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexuality, F/F, F/M, Femslash, Flaming Nargle Flame On! Challenge, Horcrux Hunting, Horcruxes, Luna Lovegood Being Luna Lovegood, Luna's brain is an interesting place, Magic Mirrors, Multi, POV Luna Lovegood, Pansexual Luna Lovegood, Polyamory, Post-Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Pre-Threesome, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Threesome - F/F/M, flaming nargles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:55:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24060952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antosha/pseuds/Antosha
Summary: Luna searches after the rare and the beautiful and finds them both. (Written pre-DH.)
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Kudos: 18





	Count the Ways

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my flamingnargle Harry/Ginny/Luna Challenge entry. Yay!
> 
> Again, just for clarity's sake, this is not part of the Locked Room series.
> 
> Warnings: Implied threesome. Implied teen sexuality. Mild action/adventure violence. Angst.
> 
> Challenge: #6 - Ginny and Luna need to figure out what to do: Hogwarts is closed down, and Harry is off with Ron and Hermione. They are considering their options when Harry walks in the door. (Eesh. My own damned challenge, and I didn't quite follow the prompt! Ah, well!)
> 
> Thanks to aberforths_rug for the wonderful beta and the lovely, thoughtful conversation.

_Ichi_

  
  


The first time was the day after her oldest brother's wedding.

Luna had never known Bilius terribly well, and so she was not surprised not to be invited to the wedding in France. It would have been nice, she supposed, to see all of the Veela women. That had been Luna's favorite part of attending the Quidditch World Cup.

They had made her daddy sad, though.

That Sunday, Luna was sitting on the front steps of her house, attempting to make a spider web out of her own hair. She had broken a web without meaning to, and thought it only fair to replace the poor creature's home.

A trio of sparrows burst from the apple trees that lined the lane that led to the Ottery high street, and Luna knew that she was about to receive a visitor. Aeolus, the family's Jarvey, screamed, "You've got some bloody nerve!" and Luna knew that it was a friend.

Ginny shuffled up the lane, dust ghosting behind her feet as she walked. Usually, Luna's friend barely seemed to touch the ground; her natural place was in the air or up a tree. So it was clear to Luna that something was dragging Ginny down to earth.

"Hello, Ginny," Luna said. "You look thoroughly miserable."

And Ginny threw her head on Luna's lap and cried.

  
  


  
  


_Due_

  
  


Ginny came to Luna's house almost every day after that. Ginny made a point of mentioning that her family had closed off their Floo connection, but Luna understood that she simply liked the walk. It didn't matter to Luna, as long as Ginny came.

Sometimes they talked about whether school would open in September or whether Jimmy Peakes really was part Leprechaun. Harry Potter's name never passed either of their lips.

  
  


  
  


_Shalosh_

  
  


Not for the first few weeks, in any case.

And the fact that Ginny wasn't talking about him--Harry, who had been the main topic of their conversation since before they'd gone to Hogwarts--told Luna more than anything.

So Luna happily talked about Blibbering Humdingers and Rufus Scrimgeour's ties to the Vampire underworld on the continent. And as the July days lazed on, Ginny began to giggle and tell Luna that she was being silly, and her steps bounced up the lane again instead of trailing dust, and Luna breathed easier, knowing that her friend was coming back.

Even so, from time to time, Ginny would fall silent and look out the window, and Luna would know that she was wondering where Harry was. And Luna would feel the sadness pulling at her heart like wands stretching Dragontree sap taffy.

  
  


  
  


_Nne_

  
  


Luna had been ecstatic when her friends had come together in May. Ginny had found her at dinner the evening after the Quidditch match--Cho and Michael had muttered some truly unpleasant things as the red-head bounced her way over--and gleefully squealed into her ear the happy news that the dream that they had been whispering about for six years had finally come to pass and Luna had been so happy for her friends that she had cried right there at the Ravenclaw table.

She wished she could have been there to see that first kiss.

  
  


  
  


_Quintus_

  
  


She watched several of the others.

She hadn't meant to the first time. Ginny was going to revise with her; Ginny was always quite good at Charms and Transfiguration, as Luna was at History and Care of Magical Creatures, and so they'd developed a habit of meeting out by the beech tree overlooking the lake to revise together on Friday afternoons. Luna always loved it, sitting beside Ginny, books and parchment scattered, listening to the ravens tease the Whomping Willow.

This particular Friday--it was Lemuria, Luna remembered--Harry had gotten there first.

Ginny was curled on his lap, her feet tucked beneath his thighs, and their faces were barely visible, pressed closely as they were. Their hands were buried too, and moving.

Luna watched them for some time, and a warm, humid feeling spread through Luna such as she had only felt a few times before in her life, usually when waking up late at night from some very pleasant dream. As they kissed, she reached down under her skirt and touched her pants and realized that she really _was_ humid, and when her fingers brushed her Special Spot, a light shot through her and her body felt better than ice cream.

Then Harry noticed that she was there, and blushed and apologized for keeping the girls from preparing for their OWLs, kissed Ginny deeply once again and slouched off towards the castle, hands in pockets, not quite hiding a grin.

Ginny and Luna tried to revise for a bit, but both began to giggle uncontrollably and rolled around on the grass, laughing, until it was time to go back for dinner.

  
  


  
  


_Sechs_

  
  


Ever after, Luna touched her Special Spot quite a lot, and it was always while thinking of Harry and Ginny kissing.

  
  


  
  


_Sem_

  
  


On the last day of July, Ginny arrived glum for the first time in weeks.

Luna broke a promise with herself and said, "It's Harry's birthday today."

Ginny burst into tears.

Luna held her, and they rocked on Luna's bed as they had done so often after Luna's mummy died and then after Tom Riddle's diary made Ginny do those awful things. Ginny began to talk about Harry for the first time in over a month--about hating him, about how stupid and noble he was, about how he was now of age and would no doubt be off doing stupid, noble, _dangerous_ things.

About how she missed him. "And he's probably forgotten me now, the git."

"No one could ever forget you," Luna sighed, and Ginny looked up at her and Luna knew that Ginny knew, and Luna tried to smile, but it wasn't as easy to do as it usually was in Ginny's presence.

"Or you," Ginny said, very quietly, and that made Luna smile indeed. Then Ginny sighed too and said--very quietly--"I'm afraid he'll die."

"Yes," Luna said, because of course that's what Ginny was afraid of. "And I imagine that he's afraid _you're_ going to die. And that's why he's tried to push you away."

"I know," Ginny sobbed, "but I'm so frightened and I hate it, sitting here on his birthday, when he should be here, right _here_ ,"--Ginny grasped Luna hard--"but he's off risking his life, and Ron and Hermione's, and I can't _help_ him, and I can't help hating this. And it's not like I'm not in danger just because we're apart. It's _stupid_!"

"Yes, it is," Luna said, and kissed Ginny on the top of the head, and rocked her some more.

That night, as Ginny slept peacefully beside her, Luna rubbed her spot until she cried and for the first time she was there in her mind's eye as Harry and Ginny kissed. She was kissing them both. And they were kissing her.

  
  


  
  


_Oito_

  
  


Luna's father was gone most of the summer, which was unusual, since the summer was usually a quiet time at _The Quibbler_ and the two of them loved their summer holidays together. But the stories were flying after Dumbledore's death, and Septimus Lovegood couldn't let his magazine's golden time pass it by. Also, someone needed to sleep over the newsroom, in case the Death Eaters attacked.

Luna missed her father, but she understood. And when she saw him, on the odd Tuesday after the week's edition had been put to bed, he seemed transcendently happy, and that made Luna happy.

So she would visit the Diggorys, who were still very sad, and see Samantha Fawcett who only wanted to talk about boys, and occasionally swing by the Burrow, which looked more like an army barracks than the homey home it had always been.

Mostly, Ginny joined Luna at the Lovegoods' house just to the south of Ottery St Catchpole, where it was still quiet and summery. They would play hide and seek and toss crab apples back and forth with each other using magic (since no one was going to turn them in), and sit, cuddling tight in Luna's room and talk about Harry and about love and about the impossibility of it all.

  
  


  
  


_Shim_

  
  


Luna had kissed Neville just two days before Professor Dumbledore's death. They had been in Greenhouse Three staring at a batch of maturing Mandrakes, and the humid feeling had overcome Luna, and she'd grabbed her friend by the lapels and pressed her lips to his. Her body to his.

Neville had tried for a while, he really had, but then his whole body had shuddered and he had backed away, his face as bright red as Ronald's had ever turned when she had tried to tell him how beautiful he was, and then he had run out of the greenhouse, looking terrified and clutching his robes tightly to him.

Very little disappointed Luna. This had.

They had spoken and written almost every day since, but they had never mentioned the event again.

She still loved Neville, but she didn't think she'd be kissing him again any time soon.

  
  


  
  


_Dekka_

  
  


Daddy came home the next Tuesday night before Ginny had left for the Burrow. She started to go, to give father and daughter some privacy, she said, but neither Lovegood would hear of it. "Ginny, my dear, it's always a pleasure to have one of your colorful family here! And Luna would be bored to tears to be stuck with a dried-up old kipper like me!"

"That's not true, Daddy, you never bore me, but I _would_ love Ginny to stay."

And so she had.

They were treated to a truly unique dinner. The _Quibbler_ offices were on a Muggle block that had Indian, Lebanese, Tahitian and Italian restaurants. Uncertain what his daughter's far-ranging tastes might favor that night, Mr. Lovegood had brought home two courses from each. Chicken _vindaloo_ and garlic _naan_ , _felafel_ and _fatoush_ salad, roast pork and fish, and pizza and _melanzana parmegiana_. Capped off with more than a few bottles of butterbeer and two pints of Ben & Jerry's, not to mention conversation on every topic under the sun (and a few over it), it made for one of the more pleasant evenings that Luna could remember.

As they devoured the Coffee Heath Bar Crunch, the girls told Mr. Lovegood about their plans in the likely event that the school didn't reopen that fall: they would continue their studies at home, using Ginny's family and some other friends and neighbors as tutors. Bill for Defense, Charlie for Magical Creatures, Ginny's mother for Potions, Fred and George for Charms, Mrs. Diggory for History, Professor McGonagall herself for Transfiguration (she seemed to be about quite a bit, though Ginny could never tell Luna why), and so on. The only class they couldn't find a suitable tutor for was Arithmancy, and Luna hoped that Hermione might be able to direct her studies there; this however she did not mention either to her father or to Ginny.

Luna's daddy told them both what a wonderful idea that seemed, how that's how magic _should_ be taught, and then began to regale them with stories of what was happening out in the wild world. There were stories of Harry popping up in all sorts of unlikely places, which made for all sorts of wonderful theories on the part of some of his more imaginative writers. Rita Skeeter was earning the money that _The Quibbler_ was actually paying her, bringing in the most wonderfully entertaining and improbable stories about the origins of Lord Voldemort and the flimsy basis for his claims to magical power. In the mean time, there had been a new wave of destruction in Muggle areas. Just yesterday, an old, abandoned Muggle house in some silly sounding town--Strangleton or Throttleton or something--had been blown to bits by the effects of some terrible curse that had been unleashed....

Daddy became very quiet then, and Luna knew that he was thinking about the horrid curse on that old mirror that had killed Mummy.

Then he smiled and went on to tell the girls that four separate eyewitnesses to their friend Harry's death had come forward in the past week--but that each of them claimed he had been killed on a different night, in a different county and in a different manner. Septimus's favorite was the tale of an old Gloucestershire witch who claimed to have seen the Boy-Who-Lived struck down by a golden carrot fired from an ancient blunderbuss carrying the Peverell family arms. The assailant was said to have been a short man with a bad toupee and glowing red eyes.

Ice cream finished, conversation exhausted, they had stumbled up to bed.

  
  


  
  


_Undici_

  
  


Luna expected Ginny to begin to cry again when they closed the door to her room, but she did not.

She simply stepped out of her clothes, dropped her bra and knickers on the floor, and stood there in the middle of the room. Staring at Luna.

Luna had seen Ginny naked many times before. They had been changing in each other's rooms and bathing in the Otter and the pond at the Burrow for as long as she could remember.

But something about the sight of her now was different: the dusting of freckles across the tops of her breasts and the fronts of her thighs, and the black dot just above the tangle of flame just there, and that hot, wet feeling swept through Luna again, and the points of her own breasts hurt, and she wanted to say something to Ginny but she was frightened as Luna so rarely felt herself to be, and for the first time, she had some sense of real sympathy with poor Neville, rather than full pity.

Ginny's bright eyes mined Luna until she felt as if _she_ were the naked one. Then Ginny sighed and climbed pyjamaless--as was her habit--into Luna's bed. Facing the wall, she closed her eyes without a word.

As she climbed into bed beside her friend, Luna told herself that she shouldn’t touch herself tonight, that it wouldn't be right, but she could not help it. She touched herself.

She imagined Harry--alive, not dead, he could not be dead--pressing himself between the two of them and caressing them both and his _penis_...

For the first time, she touched Ginny. On the shoulder. On the belly. The back of the hand that was busy with her own spot moving against the smooth curve of Ginny's bum. As pleasure flooded through her, Luna thought she felt Ginny's hand pull her own tight against her friend's small, soft bosom.

  
  


  
  


_Itnashar_

  
  


Ginny did not come to Luna's house the following day.

Luna cried herself to sleep long after midnight.

  
  


  
  


_Tretten_

  
  


When she and Ginny were twelve--when Ginny was waking up at night screaming that Tom could not hurt Harry, that he would have to kill her first--Luna had gone to Ronald for the first time and told him that he was beautiful. She hadn't really thought it through, but she knew a lot about animals, and she knew how their bodies worked, and she'd heard Samantha talk about _fucking_ and she wanted Ronald to mount her like the Unicorn male she'd seen atop the mare in the Forbidden Forest one afternoon and it was so beautiful if a little noisy--but then, Unicorns were always beautiful--and she had walked over to the Burrow and told Ronald how beautiful she thought he was and waited for him to show signs of being excited by her mating display.

It hadn't worked.

It hadn't worked the other three times either, and Luna rather suspected that boys didn't respond to that sort of approach.

Also, Ronald really was lovely, but he was a bit earth-bound, and Hermione clearly liked him a lot, and Hermione really was trying to be very friendly, so Luna had stopped finding all of Ronald's jokes terribly funny. It had hurt a bit when he had joined in the teasing about her commentary for the Quidditch match, even so.

Luna still thought he looked quite beautiful. It was the hair.

  
  


  
  


_Mười Bốn_

  
  


Alone all day on Thursday the eleventh, Luna thought about Ginny and Harry. She thought about her own feelings and how confusing they were just now--really, Luna was used to being able to think things through quite clearly.

She thought about Harry's eyes, and the way that they would sparkle as he listened. She thought about the smell of determination that he had exuded while he was teaching the DA.

She had loved the DA. That had been her happiest time at Hogwarts. Having people who didn't simply dismiss her because they weren't willing to believe in Snorkacks or didn't have minds open enough to see that there were forces beyond the mere physical or magical. The members of the DA had trusted her simply because she had shown herself to be trust-worthy. And because she could cast the strongest Shield Charm of the lot, excepting of course Harry and Hermione's. She still carried the DA coin in her pocket at all times.

She thought of the way that Harry's lips softened when they touched at Ginny's throat and the small sounds that she would make.

One of the times that she had seen them kissing--this time it had been on purpose; she had known that they were going to sneak down into the Quidditch stadium for a quick snog after Harry's inevitable Saturday detention and she had snuck in and hidden herself in the commentator's booth before they arrived--she had watched with fascination as Ginny reached her hand down the front of Harry's trousers. She had done something there that looked as if it caused him great pain, and yet he had not stopped her, and after a very short time he had let out a sad, joyous shout, his head thrown back and those brilliant green eyes staring up at the sky. Harry had cried then in earnest, and Ginny had tucked his head against her breasts and cried too.

Luna had found that she herself was weeping. Moist at both ends--quite interesting.

  
  


  
  


_Piętnaście_

  
  


Luna had meant to celebrate Ginny's birthday with her.

Instead she spent the day getting slowly drunk on a bottle of Rheumatic Rhum that Daddy had brought back from Haiti. She didn't like the coughing, and she didn't like feeling dizzy--really, Luna hated feeling dizzy, she couldn't notice things when she was dizzy--but she liked not hurting for a little bit.

Around teatime she stopped drinking because she'd thrown up a cheddar scone that she'd eaten and because she felt terribly tired.

She went to sleep thinking of Harry's head and her own hand on Ginny's small, pink, lovely breast.

  
  


  
  


_Diesiséis_

  
  


The sky was almost dark when the sound of Ginny's voice calling from the sitting room woke Luna.

"I'm in bed," Luna called out. She sat up and instantly regretted it. Her stomach churned and her head pounded. And the rum still had her coughing.

Ginny came to Luna's door in a lovely green skirt and blouse. Her eyes were red.

It had always struck Luna as ridiculous that people called the Weasleys' hair _red_ when it was an amazing shade of golden sunset orange like nothing else that Luna had ever seen. It wasn't anything so simple as _red_.

The rims of Ginny's eyes, on the other hand, _were_ red. And pink. And purple.

"Happy birthday, Ginny," Luna said.

"You look like hell, Loony," Ginny murmured as she walked across the room and sat on Luna's bed. Ginny had always called her that, and they both knew that it did not hurt Luna as it did when Samantha or Gladys or any of her other housemates used that name. Terry and Anthony had stopped the older Ravenclaws from calling her Loony, and Luna had been very grateful.

But she was happy to hear Ginny using the horrible pet name. It made a small bubble of heat swell in her chest. "Thank you, Ginevra. You don't look terribly well either."

Ginny blinked. "I... He didn't remember my birthday. And I feel stupid that I care. He broke _up_ with me, for Merlin's bloody sake. And he's on the run. If he's alive."

"He's alive," Luna said, reaching up and touching Ginny's chin, which was trembling. "And he didn't break off his relationship with you. He sent you away because he loves you."

"Git," Ginny muttered, but she did not flinch from Luna's touch. "Not that I'm one to talk. I sent _him_ a gift... A present. To his... home. I hope he got it." Tears beaded along Ginny's lashes, fine and bright. "Git."

Luna stroked Ginny's cheek and smoothed away the dribbling tears.

"I miss him so much," Ginny whispered, her voice a fierce, small hiss.

"I know," Luna said. "I miss him too."

A quick shudder passed through Ginny. "I miss... I miss being touched, Luna. I miss it so much I can taste it. I miss being touched, and I miss being kissed, and when you touched me the other night..." At last, Ginny turned her eyes upon Luna, and Luna saw fear there, but also a funny, bright look that Luna had seen there before, though never focused on her.

Headache and churning stomach forgotten, Luna leaned forward and kissed her friend. She could not be a replacement for Harry, but she could be herself, and she wanted this too, wanted it very much.

  
  


  
  


_On Yedi_

  
  


Kissing Ginny was very different from kissing Neville. Time seemed to flow in new and unsuspected ways, nerve endings seemed to be sparking reactions in totally unanticipated parts of her body, and Luna's tongue and hands seemed to be exploring without any conscious direction on her part.

Luna wondered abstractly if this phenomenon was being studied in the Department of Mysteries.

  
  


  
  


_Optsprezece_

  
  


A volley of bird calls set time back on its normal course. Who could be coming by on a Thursday night? Daddy would be hard at work doing the first mock-up of the next week's edition. Could something have happened at _The Quibbler_? But anyone from the magazine would have come through the Floo or Apparated straight in.

Aeolus barked, "Sod off! Sod off!" and Luna knew that it must be intruders. Death Eaters, most likely.

A flash of red silenced the Jarvey, and Luna was only relieved that the color wasn't green.

She and Ginny were both standing, their wands in their hands. Luna snuck over towards her window.

A biting, dark whisper snapped up from the front walk, carrying in the still evening air. "You two go around the back and get the blonde bint when she comes out. Leave the little one to me."

Ginny held up her fingers. _Three_?

Luna peered out and nodded, then mouthed _Bellatrix_. The black-haired Death Eater was sauntering up to the front door while her husband and his brother circled either side of the house.

"Happy birthday, little Weasel girl!" said Bellatrix Lestrange, her voice a cracking singsong. "I've got a present for you!"

Ginny set her shoulders and started to saunter towards the window, but Luna pulled her back and shook her head. _Down_ , she mouthed, and pointed.

Ginny goggled at her.

 _Tunnel_ , mouthed Luna, pointing again, and Ginny took a deep breath and nodded. Their odds against three adult Death Eaters weren't good, and Bellatrix Lestrange was not a nice woman, that was all there was to it. If they could escape without being discovered, that would give them a chance to get reinforcements from the Burrow to try and capture the Lestranges as they ransacked the empty house.

The tunnel entrance was in the storage cupboard in Mummy's old workshop. Luna never went in there if she could help it, and Daddy hadn't been in since the day Mummy died, but the passageway down to the cave that led to the river had been one of the reasons that her father had bought the house: "It's always good to have a back door no one else knows about, Luna-tuna!"

Their wands at the ready, Luna and Ginny tiptoed out onto the landing. Mrs. Lestrange's shrill voice was muttering at the front door. Luna knew her father's charm work was good, and her mother had done the original enchantments on the door, but she also knew it was only a matter of time before the terrible woman broke through. Pulling Ginny more quickly down behind her, Luna padded down the stairs and along the hallway that led to the library and Mummy's workshop. A thud from the end of the hall told the girls that the Lestrange brothers were trying to break in the back way.

A spell burst against the front door; it squealed like a nail being pulled from old wood. Luna and Ginny sprinted shoulder by narrow shoulder to the latched door to the workshop and ran inside as both doors to the house exploded off of their hinges.

  
  


  
  


_So-ne-la-du_

  
  


Luna watched Mummy die, watched as the blue light from the mirror that Selene Lovegood had been trying to break the curse on exploded over her and sucked all living energy out of her body, transforming Luna's wonderful, warm, moist mother into a dry mummy within two seconds. She had felt the presence of the something evil within the mirror from the moment she saw it, but once it had swallowed her mother's life, Luna could feel that presence swell, thought she could hear it give a high chuckle after such a pleasant meal.

The mirror was still lying on the table atop its protective velvet wrapping, just as it had been six years before, shiny and untarnished on the dust-covered worktable. It sparkled in the moonlight and Luna was lost in the play of the radiance across the beautiful disk of crystal and silver that had shattered her childhood.

The evil within it seemed to be humming happily to itself.

  
  


  
  


_Yee Sib_

  
  


" _Luna_!" Ginny hissed, pulling her into the workshop.

 _Why am I here? What's happened_?

Ginny yanked Luna down behind the worktable to the right of the door. An ancient, dust-greyed cauldron pressed against Luna's knee. "Luna? What is it?" she whispered. "Where's the--"

"I saw something going into that room in the back!" shrieked Bellatrix Lestrange.

"I'll check," answered a deep male voice.

"No! Just make sure nothing comes out of there. Rabastan, look at the other room, I'll seal off the stairs." There was much noise, and a flash of blue light that seemed to cause the very walls to glow for a moment.

The cupboard that led to the tunnel was on the other side of the room; in her haste and incomplete knowledge, Ginny had pulled Luna in the wrong direction. Could they make?--

"I don't see anyone," came the deep voice again from the door.

"You go in, Roddie, I'll cover you," said another voice, just a bit higher.

They were trapped.

"Why me? I'm not likely to hit _you_ in the back--" hissed the first man.

"Shut up, both of you!" barked Bellatrix.

Perhaps if Luna provided covering fire, Ginny could make it to the tunnel. Luna would die, of course, but...

"Idiots," Mrs. Lestrange continued. "Both of you go in, and I'll be right behind you. Rodolphus, you check the left-hand side of the room. Rabastan, you look to the back. Both of you work back towards that table and I'll keep your pathetic buttocks covered!"

The two men grumbled.

Ginny's hand touched Luna's bare shoulder--their shirts were still open, their brassieres undone. If Luna hadn't been terrified, she would have thought it funny.

Ginny pointed at herself, then towards the other side and the back of the room; she would take the two men. Then Luna's friend pointed at her and towards the door.

Luna would have to take on Bellatrix Lestrange.

Nodding, Luna found that she was remarkably calm. She knew just what she would do. Rabastan Lestrange walked past their hiding place, eyes and wand focused on the armoire at the back. _Ready_? Luna mouthed. Before Ginny could shake her head, Luna counted _One, two, THREE_!

They burst up from behind their hiding place to find three sets of shocked eyes focused on them--three sets of eyes, but at that moment, no wands. Both as a distraction, as well as to draw fire from the two wizard brothers off of Ginny--and of course because it seemed called for--Luna called, "Who's the fairest of them all?" Sliding her hand under the velvet beneath, she launched the mirror glass-first into Bellatrix's astonished face.

The blue light flared just as it did in Luna's nightmares; just as in her nightmares the light sucked a woman's essence out of her and left her a lifeless husk in the space of a heartbeat.

This time however, there was no chuckle. There was a tinkling of glass and a terrible, disembodied howl as the shattered mirror and Bellatrix's dead body hit the wooden floor.

Luna was aware of a dull ringing sound, broken by a series of thunks as several heavy things fell to the ground. Blinking, she looked around. Ginny had wordlessly Levitated the enormous cauldron they'd been leaning against, just as they had been levitating apples all summer, and smashed it into the heads of each of the Lestrange men in turn. Their features had been so efficiently erased that Luna was certain that no one but a loved one would be able to tell which was which. Luna wondered if they had any loved ones left; Mrs. Lestrange wouldn't be able to help.

A strange, quick panting sound chittered from Ginny's mouth. Looking at her girlfriend, Luna realized that she was vibrating. Shivering. "Shhhh," Luna said, and wrapped Ginny in her arms.

  
  


  
  


_Eenentwintig_

  
  


They transfigured the bodies into dolls--so as not to have to look at them, and so they wouldn't start decomposing, which wouldn't have been pleasant.

Luna cleaned up some of the mess, Scourgifying the floor clear of blood, and removing the flesh and hair and brains from the outside of the cauldron.

When they had finished, Luna turned to Ginny and said, "We should probably head along to the Burrow, don't you think?"

Ginny cast an owl-like gaze on her: _shock_ , Luna thought. _She's in shock. We're in shock_.

_We've just killed three people._

"In a m-minute," Ginny said.

They nodded at each other and stumbled out to the sitting room. By mutual consent, they sat side by side in the swaybacked old sofa that Ginny's mother had given Luna's family years and years ago.

Luna looked at the front door, blown out of its frame. The moonlight slanted through it, just touching the toe on Ginny's left trainer.

Ginny's head settled against Luna's still-bare shoulder, her hair spilling down over Luna's breast. Ginny was vibrating again. One of them was crying. "Ginny?" said Luna.

"Yes."

"I love you."

"Oh."

The crying continued.

"Luna... I... I love you too."

"I'm so glad."

"But..."

"I love Harry too, Ginny."

"Oh." Ginny lifted her head from Luna's shoulder and stared, her eyes dark and sharp.

Luna kissed her.

As they kissed, as their bodies began to move together once again, time slipping its leash again, reminding them that they were alive again--as they kissed, Luna heard Aeolus bark out irritably, "You've got some bloody nerve!"

But she couldn't be fussed.

  
  


  
  


_Wahvad w Xicriin_

  
  


A hollow thunk at the doorway changed her mind for her. "Is anyone?... _Bloody hell_!"

Ginny gasped and whipped around, one arm covering her lovely breasts.

"Hello, Harry," Luna sighed.

Harry was standing silhouetted in the open door. Luna knew it was he without having to see his face.

So did Ginny. "Harry!" she bawled, curling in on herself against Luna's side.

The most wonderful boy in the world seemed to shrink from them, leaning back against the doorjamb. "Ginny... I... Luna." His hands rose towards them, but then fell. "I can leave..."

"NO!" said both girls. Luna found that she and Ginny had both stood.

Harry looked away from Ginny and began staring at Luna's chest as if he couldn't think what these things' names were. He looked terribly confused, the poor boy. "I... Ginny..." He looked down at the door on the floor and frowned. "I... What happened here?"

"Nothing, we'll tell you later" murmured Ginny, while Luna said, "We've taken care of it..."

Harry gulped, closed his eyes tightly and held up a package. "Happy birthday, Ginny."

Clutching her shirt closed, Ginny shuffled over to her boyfriend. "Harry," she said, her voice as steady as it had been all day, "you're the only thing I wished for this birthday. Please--"

Luna never did find out what it was that Ginny was going to ask Harry, because he pulled her into his arms and they kissed and a sob burst from Luna's throat and she did not know if it were a sob of joy and relief or of sorrow, but she found her feet leading her towards the stairs and her room, but Ginny's small hand grabbed hers and stopped her and she turned to find her friends looking at her. Harry looked up at Luna, then back at Ginny, his eyes full of questions, but Ginny said, "Yes," and Harry turned back, leaned up and kissed Luna.

  
  


_Te-iss_

  
  


Luna asked Harry later that night what he had been thinking. Why he had kissed her.

Scowling as he so often did when asked about things that were going on inside of him, Harry had replied, "I really... I _wasn't_ thinking." Then he had grinned. "But it seemed like a good idea."

Luna had found herself compelled to agree, and so had Ginny.

  
  


  
  


_Ceithir ar Fhichead_

  
  


Luna noted with some interest that time did once again seem to play funny games and wet heat flowed through her once again, even though Harry's lips were thinner than Ginny's and drier, and his glasses were pressing against her forehead and a smell of old smoke clung to his hair.

"Where have you been, Harry?" she asked after some time--not too soon because the feeling of his body against hers really did rather make words disappear. The points of her breasts were tingling and she felt as if it would take nothing more than a breath from Ginny to set her alight.

"What?" he asked. He seemed to be reacting to her touch in just the same way.

"You smell as if you've been sleeping in a hearth."

Harry blinked. "I... I was at an orphanage last night--I was... looking for something. And I..."

"You triggered a curse that destroyed the building," Luna mused, and his eyes focused hard. "It was St. Margaret's Orphanage in Harrowgate."

Slowly, Harry nodded.

"Luna," Ginny gasped, "how can you know _that_?"

Taking each of them by the hand, Luna led them back to the workroom.

"What _happened_ in here?" Harry asked, his voice edged with that sad, beautiful strength that always made Luna's pancreas wiggle.

Luna pointed to the three dolls on the table. "We killed the Lestranges when they attacked us earlier tonight."

"Oh," Harry said.

"It was awful, Harry." Ginny's voice was very strained. "They were the ones who blew the doors off."

He pulled them both close. "Are you two all right?" They nodded. "Bloody hell. I was so... I saw the door off its hinges, and then you two..." Harry shivered against Luna.

Ginny and Luna peered at each other.

"Uh, never mind," Harry said. "You two really are amazing. You took out three of Voldemort's worst, all on your own... But what _happened_?"

So they told him.

His eyes were wide the entire time.

When they finished, he hugged them both tight. "I'm an idiot," he muttered and he kissed Ginny hard. "I'm so sorry, Ginny. I thought it was good idea, staying away. How did they know you were going to be here?"

"I've been here almost every day," Ginny said. "Someone must have been watching."

Harry's chest suddenly became very broad. "Bloody!... I _am_ an idiot. Girls--we need to get out of here. There might be more of them out there. They can't be too close, or they'd have come in the minute the Lestranges disappeared. Ginny, are you sure it's you there were after?"

As the other girl nodded, a sudden fist of cold clutched Luna's heart. "Daddy...." she murmered.

She ran to the fireplace, her friends just behind her. Harry quickly conjured a fire, Ginny tossed Floo Powder in and Luna screamed as she thrust her head in, "The Quibbler!"

As soon as her head stopped spinning, the fist inside let go. Her father was sitting at his desk with Philomela Strunk, his senior copy editor, leaning over his shoulder.

"Luna-tuna? Is something wrong?" Her father's face--which rarely showed anything but a smile--was twisted in concern.

"Not any more," she laughed, tears running down her face, and explained about the attack, about the way that she and Ginny had fought off the Death Eaters, and that Harry was with them now.

Daddy and Philomela listened in silence, eyes wide. At some point, Philomela began to take notes. Her daddy's hands were wringing at the lapels of his robes.

When she had finished, her father said, "Oh, Merlin, Luna, sweetheart. I'm so... Are you all right? All of you?"

Luna nodded.

"Harry's right, sweetheart--I want you to get away from there. Once the Lestranges fail to return, You-Know-Who may send others to check. Please go to the Burrow. I'll contact Molly... And also the Aurors. And... Phillie? Could you get Rita and... And I'll take the pictures myself, all right?" Once the editor had run off, Mr. Lovegood turned back to Luna. "Luna-tuna... I'm... I'm very proud of you. And I'm so glad you're not hurt. I don't know..." Daddy's mouth flapped open.

"I know, Daddy."

He smiled.

"Daddy? Ginny and Harry both love me."

"Well... Of course they do, Luna-tuna. Now, I want you and anyone smart enough to love you to get out of there, all right? I'll call at the Burrow in the morning. Oh, and Luna? I love you too."

  
  


  
  


_Er Shi Wu_

  
  


When she was little, Luna's mummy had talked to her about how, one day, when she was grown, she would find a special boy of her own who would do anything for her, who she would do anything for. As Mummy would do anything for Daddy. As he would do anything for her.

Luna's mother hadn't said anything about finding a boy and a girl both. But Luna didn't think she would have minded.

Like her father, Luna was sure that she would have loved anyone who loved Luna.

  
  


  
  


_Bist Shesh_

  
  


Since the Floo at the Burrow was closed and Harry didn't think he could side-along Apparate both girls, they walked through the tunnel and along the river to Ginny's home. No one would look for them on the sandy banks of the Otter, it would lead them close to the Weasleys', and they would easily be able to spot anyone pursuing them.

It was a beautiful night for a walk.

As they walked along--the girls' tops primly closed again--Harry asked Luna how she had known about St. Margaret's Orphanage.

"That mirror that I threw at that horrid witch? My mum was a Curse Breaker for the Ministry. She discovered a number of new counter-curses; your brother apprenticed with her for a bit, Ginny. Some Muggles were tearing down the Orphanage and triggered one curse--it killed them all. Mummy went and retrieved that mirror, but the curses on the building were so thorough that even she couldn't remove the last one--the most powerful Inferno Curse she'd ever seen, she said--so the building was Muggle-proofed, placed off-limits and made Unplottable."

"The _Ministry_ did that?" Harry grumbled. "It took us!..." He shook his head.

"But the mirror?" Ginny asked.

"It was Rowena Ravenclaw's--it was supposed to be terribly powerful for scrying the truth."

Harry stopped stock-still. "Luna... That mirror? You... it's the one that was shattered on the floor?"

Luna nodded. "It really was a shame that that happened. I hadn't meant to break it, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I threw it rather hard. And it did just what I thought it would." She shuddered.

Ginny shivered in sympathy. "That howl when it broke...."

"You heard it too?" Luna asked.

"Wait--Luna, Ginny, when it broke, it howled? This mirror? Did it do that a lot, Luna?"

She thought about that. "Oh, no. I'd only heard it make a noise before when it killed my mother. But then it was more of a horrible chuckle." It felt odd telling anyone this--and even odder for Luna to realize that there were some things that she had held as secrets after all. And some people she could share them with.

Clutching Luna's hand tightly--and Ginny's too, it seemed--Harry said, "Ginny. I want you to think: did you recognize that voice? Did it sound at all familiar?"

Ginny's forehead scrunched up the funny way it did when Luna would test her on random History questions. "Yeah," came her hesitant reply. Then she looked up, a bright look of anger in her eyes. "Yeah. It sounded like Tom from that bloody diary. I don't know what made me think that, but... Harry, are you all right?"

For Harry was doing a very peculiar little dance right there on the riverbank. "Harry," Luna found herself saying, amused, "you're behaving rather oddly, you know."

"Bugger that," Harry grinned, his eyes blazing. "Ladies, let me tell you about what Ron and Hermione and I were trying to do at that orphanage last night. Let me tell you about Horcruxes...."

  
  


  
  


_Vint-sept_

  
  


Some years later, a very tired Hermione had introduced Luna to the word _bisexual_ as it was used in the context of human love.

"But we're all _bisexual_ , Hermione," Luna had said and was surprised to see her friend look uncomfortable as she so less frequently did. "I can't think of any people who are part of a _third_ gender, though that would be rather interesting, don't you think?"

With an exhausted, bemused snort, Hermione had shaken her head. "No, no, of course, in that sense you're right--most vertebrate species are split into two genders, so we are bisexual that way. No, what I was talking about was when one person is attracted to men _and_ women. Like you are."

Luna thought about this for a moment. "But I'm not attracted to men and women. I'm attracted to Harry and Ginny."

Hermione rubbed her eyes. "I should know better than to talk with you when the baby's had me up all night, Luna. What I mean is--"

"Oh, I think I understand what you mean. But are you sure you understand what _I_ mean? You would consider yourself what? Unisexual?"

That earned Luna a small grin. "Heterosexual."

" _Hetero_? Different sex? Different from what, or would you rather not say?" One had to be careful about what one asked when it came to other people's sexual interests, Luna had found.

Hermione favored her with an exasperated chuckle. "No! No, different from _my_ sex. From my gender. I like boys. Ron likes girls."

"Well, he certainly likes _you_." When Hermione rolled her eyes, Luna continued, "I do think I understand what you're getting at, Hermione, but really... Would you rather kiss Gregory Goyle or Ginny? Would you rather spend a night in bed with Zacharais Smith or with me?"

Hermione, who almost never blushed, turned beet red. "I'd rather spend the night with my husband."

Nodding to her friend, Luna said, "Precisely."

  
  


_Tsebíí-nadin_

Once they had arrived at the Burrow--it had taken nearly an hour and Mrs. Weasley was beside herself, having received an owl from Luna's father; their house _had_ been destroyed by Death Eaters, but Aurors had captured several and Daddy had gotten some terrific pictures, he said--they had been treated to a late-night feast, a sort of second birthday party for Ginny, as all of the Order people and several of Ginny's brothers crowded around and toasted the three of them and begged their story.

They told it over in three-part harmony, which seemed to amuse everyone. Ginny and Harry neglected to mention any of the kissing and Luna thought perhaps she should do the same.

Harry finally gave Ginny her present: a pair of lovely emerald earrings that went with her hair and his eyes perfectly. Everyone made very nice cooing noises, and Ginny cried and thanked Harry, and Harry had kissed her, which caused more cooing.

And then they had both hugged Luna, and no one had seemed certain how to react to that, and so they had all gone up to bed.

When they had arrived in Ginny's room--Harry and Ron both looked very unhappy shuffling up to Ron's--Luna and Ginny had immediately begun to get ready for bed. Hermione stood in the doorway, chewing on her lip. "Ginny... Luna... Ron and I... This past month--"

Ginny got her very wicked grin on and it made Luna's tummy do funny things to see that smile again after so long. "Are you trying to tell us that you've been bunking with my brother, Miss Prefect?"

"Bunk?... Oh. Well, yes, as it happens." This was another of those rare occasions when Hermione's face glowed red.

"Good on you," said Ginny, grinning, and Luna had to admit that it sounded like quite a nice idea, though Ronald's arms and legs were rather long and would take up a lot more space than Ginny's. Or Harry's.

Hermione returned their smiles a bit nervously. "Well, before you two came back, our idea was that I would sneak up to Ron's room. And... And Harry would come down here, which we, uh, didn't think Ginny would mind. But..."

Luna shared a glance with Ginny, who nodded. "I don't think that will be a problem, Hermione," Luna said.

Hermione peered at her. "Oh?" She stared at Luna and then at Ginny for a moment. Then, shaking herself, she said, "Right. Well, we'll have to wait a bit until everyone's asleep, so I want you two to tell me what you've been up to for the past month."

Which they did. Hermione then tentatively shared some of her adventures with Ron and Harry--she was surprised to find that Harry had told them about the Horcruxes, but became very animated as she described the process of hunting the objects down. She was just telling them how they had happened to blow up the old orphanage when there was a scratch at the door.

Ginny opened it a crack and admitted a very awkward-looking Harry. "Uh, Hermione..."

The older girl kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Harry." She peered at the three of them appraisingly. "Happy birthday again, Ginny. Sleep well, you three."

"You too, Hermione," Luna said, evoking an uncharacteristically impish grin from the older girl. "Good night."

When the door closed again, Harry stood there, shifting from foot to foot. "Well, I can sleep over..."

"Stuff it, Potter," Ginny said. She had already transfigured her bed and the cot into a lovely, large four-poster. She really was quite talented at Transfiguration. "We're going sleep over here. All three of us."

Even more flustered, Harry said, "B-but should we talk?--"

Luna found herself taking him by the hand, leading him towards the bed, where Ginny was already removing her clothing. "My mother always said that some things are best solved with words, while others are best solved with a kiss." She then proceeded to prove her mother's point to her, Harry and Ginny's mutual satisfaction.

  
  


  
  


_Devinipadivdesmit_

  
  


It was nice to discover why her Special Spot was situated in just that place.

  
  


  
  


_Thirty_

  
  


The next morning, before Harry went back up to Ron's room, Ginny asked if Luna could have one of her earrings.

Mutely, Harry had nodded, and then slipped up to switch places with Hermione.

That day _was_ one for words, and lots of them. Ginny and Luna had to give a formal report to Kingsley Shacklebolt, who complimented them on their courage--and (with a wink) on their matching single earrings.

Then came a long series of conversations with both of Ginny's parents and with her own father, with Harry, and with Ron and Hermione.

The following day, Harry, Ron and Hermione left Ottery St. Catchpole.

Ginny and Luna went with them.

Luna thought about happiness and about love, and she thought--as they traveled, hunting down the last two slivers of Tom Riddle's soul--that she had never had so much of either.

She always gravitated towards the rare and beautiful. Of that too she had found more than she ever had believed possible.

Holding two warm hands in hers, Luna smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This story benefited in part from some of my more plot-wanky/theory-mongery post-HBP fics, but I really was mostly interested in Luna's mind, and the interested places it could wander--and the fact that it can be quite sharp when it needs to be.
> 
> Having played with a fairly worldly take on Luna of late, I also wanted to see what she would be like if I kept her as innocent as I could. I'd love to know what you think.
> 
> Oh, and Luna may be able to count to thirty in thirty languages--it does seem very much like the kind of thing she'd do--but I can't say that I can. If you happen to speak Cherokee or Tagalog or Romanian and I've gotten one of the numbers wrong, please do forgive me. And let me know. :-)
> 
> Oh, and yes, the orphanage was named in honor of the author of wonderful, mythic H/G fluffy flansgst fics, St Margarets.


End file.
